Top image: Magis ‘Chair One’ installation at the XTRA showroom, Saturday in Design Singapore 2012 (now named Singapore Indesign)

The inaugural Hong Kong Indesign made a splash in the Fragrant Harbour on 30 November 2013 with the architecture and design community coming out to engage with product launches, transformed showrooms, creative installations and a host of design celebrations held by 20 exhibitors across 15 different locations on Hong Kong Island.

Now, the event is heading over to Singapore for its third edition. As we prepare for yet another exciting ‘day out in design’, we look back fondly at some of the key highlights from our 2012 Singapore event, with a sneak peek at what attendees can expect this year.

In 2012…

Blackhole lighting presentation by Grafunkt, Saturday in Design Singapore 2012

Known then as Saturday in Design, the 2012 Singapore edition was held on Saturday 6 October and enjoyed a 3,300 strong crowd, of whom close to half were specifiers, with the rest comprising retailers, developers, designers, suppliers, media and students.

TOTO and Novamobili at Saturday in Design Singapore 2012. Project installation by Dean Chew, Fuur Associates

Visitors circulated between our 32 international and local Exhibitors in 17 unique locations across Singapore’s four design precincts, courtesy of 16 free Indesign shuttle buses. Exhibiting showrooms pulled out all the stops to make it an unforgettable day, with live demonstrations, talks, contests and competitions, draw prizes, and great food and drinks.

Read our breakdown of the day’s highlights across the design precincts: Bras Basah, Dhoby Ghaut, River Valley and Tanjong Pagar.

Haworth at Saturday in Design Singapore 2012, exhibiting at Yavuz Fine Art

International guest speakers included Shashi Caan, Founding Principal of The Collective (USA/UK) and President of the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers, as well as a contingent of brands and designers from Australia – including Create Stone, Dinosaur Designs, The Quench Collective and Thinking Ergonomix – all keen to launch in Singapore, and meet and connect with Southeast Asian specifiers, designers, manufacturers and retailers.

At Dream Interiors, Saturday in Design Singapore 2012. Project installation by Asylum

The Project installation series was a particular hit. Sixteen creative teams of local and international architects, designers, artists and creative studios collaborated with our Exhibitors to respond to the theme ‘Hybrid’. Some showrooms became gardens, others were filled with bubbles. Some installations incorporated video art and projections, while others used murals, optical illusion, or reimagined the product, such as furniture reupholstered in artwork. Read the full rundown of 2012’s Project installations here.

At BW Furniture, Saturday in Design Singapore 2012. Project installation by SCA and Lasalle College of the Arts

In 2014, the theme for The Project is ‘The Future’: “If we were to see beyond today, what would we find? In The Project, we look at what is to come.” Subscribe to our Singapore Indesign newsletter for updates on this year’s participating brands and creative teams.

Industry visitors at Saturday in Design Singapore 2012

The anticipation leading up to the event in 2012 also inspired a whole slew of lively design programmes, with brands timing fringe events, launches and parties to fall in the lead-up week. These included Okamura’s 67th anniversary party at the Red Dot Design Museum, Stylecraft’s Bowling for Cancer event, the Moooi 2012 collection launch at Space Asia Hub, Oktoberfest by XTRA, and a talk by the designers of Australian brands howwecreate.com / PALAMONT over at Chan Hampe Galleries.

Indesign: The Event is the only commercial design event for the Asia Pacific region. Register yourself or your company (up to ten colleagues) for Singapore Indesign 2014 here. For more information and regular updates, visit singaporeindesign.com.sg, and sign up for Singapore Indesign’s Enewsletter.